The White Sox announced that they have claimed utility player Jake Elmore off waivers from the Astros.
Elmore batted .242/.313/.325 in 136 plate appearances for the Astros in 2013. The highly versatile 26-year-old accomplished a rare feat this season by appearing at all nine positions on the diamond. Even more rare is the fact that he both pitched and caught in the same game on Aug. 19.
The Indians announced (on Twitter) that they have designated infielder Cord Phelps for assignment. The move frees up enough space for the team to add Jesus Aguilar, Austin Adams, Bryan Price, Eric Gonzalez and Carlos Moncrief to the 40-man roster, thereby protecting each from next month's Rule 5 Draft (Twitter link).
The Indians picked Phelps in the third round out of Stanford back in 2008. He has strong career numbers at the Triple-A level, having slashed .286/.367/.471 in 1,576 plate appearances at the level. Those numbers haven't translated to the Majors, however, where the switch-hitter has managed just a .159/.221/.248 slash line in 123 plate appearances. Phelps, who turns 27 in January, has primarily been a second baseman throughout his career, but he saw some time at first base and in left field this season at Triple-A as well.
The Rangers announced, via press release, that they have claimed right-hander Shawn Tolleson off waivers from the Dodgers.
Tolleson, who turns 26 in January, missed nearly all of the 2013 season after undergoing surgery in late April to repair a herniated disc in his back. The Baylor University product owns a career 1.34 ERA with 13.0 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 in 127 2/3 minor league innings, though just 15 of those have come at Triple-A. Tolleson pitched 37 2/3 innings for the Dodgers in 2012, posting a 4.30 ERA with 39 strikeouts and 20 walks.
Baseball America's Ben Badler tweets that the Rangers may have gotten a steal by landing Tolleson, praising his high strikeout and ground-ball rates.
The Orioles announced, on Twitter, that they have signed right-hander Edgmer Escalona to a one-year, Major League contract. The 27-year-old is represented by agents Barry Praver and Scott Shapiro.
The 27-year-old Escalona pitched to a 5.67 ERA with 6.7 K/9, 2.7 BB/9 and a 39.9 percent ground-ball rate in 46 innings for the Rockies in 2013. The Venezuelan hurler hasn't had much big league success but has averaged 94.2 mph on his heater over the past two seasons.
It's worth pointing out that Escalona had pitched to a 3.38 ERA with a strong 27-to-7 K/BB ratio through his first 32 innings. On June 9, he allowed three runs in one-third of an inning and hit the disabled list with elbow inflammation. That injury likely contributed to the sky-high 10.93 ERA he posted over his next 14 frames before being designated for assignment.
Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette explained to Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com that Escalona has been starting in the Venezuelan Winter League and has added a third pitch — a split-fingered changeup — that scouts have raved about. Kubatko quotes Duquette: "We feel like he's developing pitches that he needs to be successful in the big leagues. He's got a weapon for left-handed hitters now," (Twitter links).
Escalona has a 2.10 ERA with a 25-to-11 K/BB ratio in 34 1/3 innings in Venezuela this winter. He is the second bullpen piece that Duquette has signed to a Major League deal this week, as the team also picked up lefty Kelvin De La Cruz on Monday despite the fact that he has no Major League experience. With the Escalona signing, the O's now have 33 players on their 40-man roster.
Kubatko first reported the agreement (Twitter link) and also was the first to report that Escalona would receive a Major League deal.
Here's today's look at the various coaching hirings and vacancies around the Majors…
12:40pm: Lopez's deal will be worth $13MM over three years, according to Steve Berman, who also reported San Francisco's Tim Hudson signing this week.
WEDNESDAY, 10:42am: Lopez will receive a three-year deal, but the agreement is not yet finalized, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports (on Twitter).
TUESDAY, 3:07pm: Giants vice president Bobby Evans tells Jim Bowden of MLB Network Radio that the two sides have agreed on base salary and years but are still working out the other elements of the contract. There's nothing in writing yet, according to Evans (Twitter links).
2:33pm: The Giants close on multi-year deal with Lopez, a source tells Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (on Twitter).
1:53pm: The Giants are "fully engaged" with Javier Lopez and hope to re-sign him in the near future, general manager Brian Sabean tells Andrew Baggarly of CSN Bay Area (Twitter link).
Lopez, 36, pitched to a 1.83 ERA with 8.5 K/9 and 2.7 BB/9 in 39 1/3 innings in 2013, primarily working as a lefty specialist for the Giants. Lopez was incredibly good in that role, limiting opposing left-handers to a minuscule .156/.208/.222 slash line.
Lopez just wrapped up a two-year, $8.5MM contract with the Giants and is said to be looking for another multiyear deal on the free agent market. The Giants acquired Lopez from the Pirates in exchange for John Bowker and Joe Martinez after the Buccos had signed him to a minor league deal in the 2009-10 offseason. He's spent the past three-and-a-half years with the Giants, earning a pair of World Series rings and posting a 2.26 ERA with 7.4 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 147 1/3 innings of relief.
The Padres finished the season with a six-man rotation and have talented arms on the mend from Tommy John surgery in the form of Cory Luebke and Joe Wieland, but that didn't stop GM Josh Byrnes from landing one of the highest-upside arms on the free agent market. The Padres announced on Wednesday that they have signed right-hander Josh Johnson to a one-year contract.
Johnson's deal is reportedly worth $8MM, and he can earn another $1.25MM if he makes 26 starts. The contract also contains a conditional option that offers the Padres some protection against his lengthy injury history; if Johnson fails to make seven starts next season, San Diego will gain a $4MM club option for the 2015 season.
The Pirates appear to have been the runners-up in the Johnson sweepstakes, MLBTR's Tim Dierkes tweets, and ESPN's Jerry Crasnick cites the Astros, Royals, and White Sox (Twitter link) among the other clubs that expressed interest in Johnson. Johnson had the Padres and Giants as his top two choices and turned down bigger one-year offers to sign with San Diego, a source told Crasnick.
Johnson had a rough 2013, making just 16 starts thanks to injury troubles. The soon-to-be 30-year-old pitched through tendonitis in his knee all season and spent time on the disabled list due to a forearm strain and triceps inflamation before undergoing surgery to remove bone spurs from his right elbow in early October. Johnson has only topped 200 innings in a season once and has only thrown more than 100 innings four times in a Major League season.
In his shortened 2013 campaign, Johnson posted a 6.20 ERA with 9.2 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 81 1/3 innings. However, advanced stats such as xFIP (3.58) and SIERA (3.73) would indicate that bad luck played a role in Johnson's troubles. For his career, Johnson owns a 3.40 ERA with 8.3 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9.
Johnson figures to join Ian Kennedy, Andrew Cashner, Eric Stults, and Tyson Ross in San Diego's projected 2014 rotation, giving the Padres a very solid starting five in the increasingly competitive NL West. Joe Wieland, Cory Luebke, and Robbie Erlin also figure to be in the mix.
While Johnson and his health might not be a sure thing, the deal appears to be fairly low-risk at just one year and the $8MM price tag doesn't break the bank for San Diego. Tim predicted back in October that Johnson would net a one-year, $8MM deal in free agency.
Earlier today, Travis Sawchick of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported that Johnson narrowed down his choices to three or four teams, with the Pirates being among the clubs in the mix. Shortly thereafter, Tim learned that all of the interested teams were out of the National League with some likely on the West Coast.
Johnson is in San Diego for a physical today and the deal is expected to be announced Wednesday. The right-hander ranked 30th on Tim's Top 50 Free Agents list for 2014.
Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com first reported the one-year, $8MM agreement. MLBTR's Tim Dierkes was the first to learn about the incentives (Twitter link), and Yahoo's Jeff Passan broke the news about the conditional $4MM option for 2015 (on Twitter).
Steve Adams contributed to this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
WEDNESDAY: Adam Kilgore of the Washington post tweets that Young would earn $1.5MM if he made the roster, and his deal could be worth as much as $6MM via incentives. He can opt out of his contract at the end of Spring Training.
TUESDAY: The Nationals have re-signed pitcher Chris Young to a minor league deal, according to Bill Ladson of MLB.com (via Twitter). Young is represented by Williams & Connolly, as shown in the MLBTR Agency Database.
Young, 34, last appeared in the majors with the Mets, posting a 4.15 ERA with 6.3 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9 across 20 starts. He spent last season in the Nats' minor league system but was sidelined for the majority of the year, making just nine starts in total. Financial terms of the pact are not yet known.
The Padres have long held a competitive advantage in that San Diego is a desirable place to play baseball, specifically with a large, pitcher-friendly ballpark. They can often sign free agent starting pitchers without making the highest bid, as was the case with their one-year, $8MM deal for righty Josh Johnson.
Johnson was limited to 16 starts for the Blue Jays in 2013 due to triceps tightness and a forearm injury, which resulted in arthroscopic elbow surgery in early October. As explained in our free agent profile, Johnson has had only three healthy seasons in the last five, and the gold standard contract for a pitcher coming off an injury is Ben Sheets' $10MM deal with the Athletics nearly four years ago. It seems possible Johnson and agent Matt Sosnick could have gotten close to that $10MM mark had they focused on the highest bidder, but the pitcher preferred San Diego for personal reasons. The Padres got a discount approaching 20%, just for being the Padres.
Johnson was already a low-risk proposition, since he targeted a one-year deal from the outset as a means of rebuilding value and re-entering free agency after 2014. The Padres further lowered their risk a bit by acquiring a $4MM club option for 2015 in the event Johnson makes fewer than seven starts in 2014, according to Yahoo's Jeff Passan. We saw a more drastic version of this clause play out with the Red Sox and John Lackey, as Lackey's league minimum option went into effect when he missed significant time with surgery for a pre-existing elbow injury. Most likely, Johnson will make at least seven starts in 2014, as he has each season since 2007, when he had Tommy John surgery. If he doesn't, something serious will have gone wrong, and the Padres may not want to guarantee Johnson even $4MM for 2015. It would be nice to have the option, though.
Johnson hasn't had an ace-caliber, healthy season since 2010, which is why I think his upside is something closer to 2012's 3.81 ERA rather than the type of season that gets Cy Young votes. There's still considerable upside for the Padres in this deal, though, as Johnson's earnings top out at $9.25MM for 2014. The going rate for a #3-4 type starter is around $14MM, and Johnson certainly has that capability for the Padres.
The best part about signing Johnson for the Padres is that they are not relying on him. As Passan explains, they've got a surplus of starters with Ian Kennedy, Andrew Cashner, Eric Stults, Tyson Ross, and others, so if Johnson goes bust it won't ruin their chances of having a good rotation.
White Sox GM Rick Hahn says that the intensity of trade talks has picked up in the past few days, according to Scott Merkin of MLB.com (Twitter links). "We well could have something in the next day or it could take through Orlando (Dec. 9-12) when the logjam sort of breaks,” Hahn said. More out of the AL Central..
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